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Overview of the Budget
• The Governor is proposing a general fund budget of $6.2 billion, with an ending balance of $75.7 million. The FY 2010 budget represents an increase of $115.2 million over the adjusted FY 2009 budget. The general fund budget grows over FY 2009 because the Governor recommends mov-ing $203.7 million in spending into the general fund that was previously funded from other funds outside the general fund. He is doing this to improve budget transparency. However, if you ad-just for the shifts in spending growth, his budget is actually $88.5 million less (or 1.4% less) than in FY 2009.
- ANALYSIS OF BUDGETS:
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- LSA Preliminary Summary of Governor’s Budget Recommendations New!
- Analysis of the FY 2010 Budget and Department Requests
•The Governor builds this budget with no tax increases and by imposing a 6.5% reduction to 207 of the 253 line items in the state budget.
• Certain key areas of the budget are protected from the effects of the 6.5% reductions. These in-clude such areas as disaster relief funding, public safety, prison guards, workforce development, human services, victim compensation funds, the teacher quality program, and preschool funding.
• Preliminary figures showed a $680 million gap between the current revenue estimate for FY 2010 and estimates of built-in and anticipated spending increases. The Governor recommends closing this gap by continuing $180 million in reductions that were made in FY 2009; implementing 6.5% reductions to most of the budget for FY 2010, which saves approximately $400 million; and using $200 million from the state’s cash reserve fund.
• The Governor plans to save $20 million in FY 2010 through government reorganizations and ef-ficiencies.
• This is a collective bargaining year for state employees and even though a settlement has not been reached, the Governor is not building an increase in the budget for funding the contracts.
• In an effort to improve budget transparency, the Governor reduces the amount of operating ex-penses funded off-budget and brings them back to the general fund. The Governor proposes the following $203.7 million in transfers to the general fund:
- o $95 million of expenditure from the Senior Living Trust Fund.
- o $33.7 million of programs previously funding from the Healthy Iowans Tobacco Trust Fund.
- o $3.2 million of grants funded from the Victims Compensation Fund.
- o $900,000 of expenditures from the Attorney General’s Forfeiture Fund.
- o $61.8 million in expenditures from the Property Tax Credit Fund.
- o $6.5 million in expenditures from the Gamblers Treatment Fund.
- o $2.6 million in expenditures from the Child Care Tax Credit.
• The Governor is proposing a $700 million Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Investment bonding pro-gram, which will tie into the Federal Stimulus effort to spur economy and create jobs. These funds will go for real bricks and mortar projects such as housing, highways and bridges, sanitary sewer systems, storm sewers, water towers , mass transit, trails, flood rebuilding, and energy in-frastructure.
• The Governor’s budget for FY 2010 will show $247.9 million in revenue adjustments, most of which is the transfer of $200 million from the cash reserve fund to the general fund. The other adjustments are as follows:
- o $800,000 in Innovations Fund payments.
- o $15 million by capping tax credits at $200 million.
- o $13 million by capping the Research and Activities Tax Credit.
- o $2.6 million by eliminating the diversion of the Child Care Tax Credit, this is the revenue side of the appropriation that was off budget.
- o $6.5 million in transfers from the Gamblers Treatment Fund, this is the revenue side of the appropriation that was off budget.
- o $10 million by sweeping the remaining balance from the last Federal Economic Stimulus and Jobs Holding Fund from the last recession.
Recommended Changes to FY 2009
• The Governor is recommending $63 million in additional spending to backfill and meet shortfalls in the budget. The Governor is also proposing $56 million be expended from the Economic Emergency Fund to provide additional funds for disaster assistance. (This is consistent with the $56 million appropriated by House File 64.) The Governor is also proposing $30.8 million in se-lective reductions or de-appropriations, to help keep the FY 2009 budget balanced. (These are part of the $77 million in reductions the Governor proposed back in December.)
• The supplemental appropriations recommended are as follows:
- o $47 million for the Department of Human Services for Medicaid.
- o $6 million to the Department of Natural Resources for flood disaster relief.
- o $992,915 to the Department of Public Health for flood costs to replace vaccines.
- o $5.6 million to backfill funding to the Department of Corrections.
- o $1.4 million to backfill funding to the Department of Public Safety.
- o $312,604 to backfill funding for Iowa Workforce Development.
- o $2 million to fund the Rebuild Iowa Office.
• The Governor proposes shifting $66 million in funds from other funds into the general fund, to help maintain the general fund balance. The funds shifted are as follows:
- o $18 million from the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement payment.
- o $4.5 million from the Innovations Fund.
- o $800,000 from the Local Government Innovations Fund.
- o $5.7 million from the Underground Storage Tank Fund.
- o $37 million from the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund. (Funds that had been committed to the new state office building.)
Staff Contact: Joe Romano
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Welcome to the Iowa House Democrats website! This is the first "open source" WordPress blog to be deployed for a political organization in the State of Iowa and we welcome your comments! 
Iowa needs Combined Reporting. Big corporations owe us millions annually in income taxes, but we lack the political will to collect it.
Take a look at our courthouses in the state of Iowa, most are huge fixtures and I am sure cost a fortune to heat and cool, there are plenty of empty buildings owned by the state that could be used and would save money on electricity, heat, and air conditioning. This would be much more energy effecient. You could use the one level needed for court proceedings when needed, the other offices could be moved to smaller buildings. What about a tri-county courthouse, with hours more accomodating to the working class, DHS is not located in every county, I beleive that they are tri-county, wouldn’t that work for our county courthouses?
There should be an across the board wage freeze for all state employees, absolutely no unneccessary travel, meetings, there is internet access and people can hold meetings over the computer, instead of going here and there to meet, when travel expense could be avoided. All businesses and companies should have a freeze on cost of living increase for at least the next 5 years.
As a professor recently retired from the University of Iowa, I wish to suggest a tested idea for significantly reducing state spending: instituting mandatory retirement at the age of 70 for faculty at all state supported schools.
After 18 years of personal observation, I have decided that the septuagenarians, at best, are the highest paid, lowest energy, and least productive faculty. Many expect to milk the system and become generally disruptive. As is done at other Big Ten Universities (Indiana University), requiring retirement at age 70 opens the way for a new generation of less costly and high-energy junior faculty to enter the ranks of academics.
Thank you.
What about one lience plate . Sell the old DOT scale and land at Ainsworth . Compine jobs with the Blue boys and state troppers . Make welfare people get drug tested . I have to be drug tested so I can make the tax dollars to give to them . People who smoke must have there own health care insurance .
You are going down the wrong road on the LEFT! More government, more taxes, more expense, LESS freedom, LESS money for the working citizen.
REDUCE State employees by 8%, REDUCE State pensions and reduce State PAY by 8%.
The more Government gets involved, the more things cost us all. The Democrat Left and the corrupt labor unions along with the Liberal Courts completely destroy our freedoms and our society. Ya, I’m sure you agree.
I hear on my scanner quite often about someone with a sore arm, possibly a slight fever, or no ride so they call for an ambulance….What a waste of tax payer money. Also I have to submit to a drug test in order to keep my job and get a pay check. I would like to see that for the people on ADC or other government programs. Make them have random drug tests like I do. If they fail, they get NO MORE Assistance…Thank You…Steve
Utilize inmates of county jails/detention centers/prisons to pickup trash and clear ditches, trim around poles/stakes in highway medians–noticed this work in Nebraska.
Restrict use, as in no personal use, of state owned vehicles.
Shut off all computers in all state offices at end of work shift.
Is it necessary to have 2 license plates for all Iowa vehicles vs. one?
It is time to roll back ALL State salaries, along with all of the extra perks awarded to you! You have been very generous to yourselves for several years. This happening at a time when most Iowans are receiving modest raises, if at all!!!! Have you all forgotten——WE ARE YOUR EMPLOYER!!
Trim all of the fat out of each department—the D.O.T. is one for certain that needs to be cleaned out!!! And, I know there are many others. Something happens when you arrive in Des Moines——apparently the politics take over, and the special interests begin!
This is very evident in the lack of banning smoking in the casinos———–you might as well have said, “we really do not care about the health of workers and patrons in casinos as we want all of that revenue”!! MONEY TALKS!
Bring back the TouchPlay.
Make all Iowa Interstate Highways into toll roads.
Take away the “30 minute money back guarantee the DOT implemented into legislature. If a person waits over 30 minutes at the State Driver’s License, they get the license at no cost. It may not be a hugh amount, but in economic times like this, it seems ridiculous to basically “give away” our state money. People will understand if they have to wait in line over 30 minutes. I think most of us expect that.
Eliminate Daylight Savings Time (DST). It increases residential electricity consumption, primarily due to extra afternoon cooling; and it increases motor fuel consumption. Also, it adversely disrupts the human body clock, not to mention everything that requires downtime or restarting when clocks shift (i.e., computer systems, medical devices, billing systems, travel, etc.) And bottom line, farmers dislike DST.
You should expand the state’s internal technology to defer state employees and board members travel. The state could easily set-up web based telecasts that allow board members to “meet” for their monthly meetings eliminating the mileage, meal, and lodging reimbursements that the state currently pays. If this was done both internally and with the various boards the state currently is paying travel expenses for, the cost savings would be quite large. This is how most corporations run their businesses today, the state needs to get up-to-speed!
My suggestion is revenue producing. Please consider legislation to license smoking in 21 and over bars. License fees could be handled just as liquor licenses, probably by the same state department. This would produce additional revenue. If you are really serious about increasing revenue you could reinstate the Iowa lottery machines, again issuing licenses to over 21 establishments. Requiring clear signage to these licensed “smoking permitted establishments” would certainly be fair to those concerned with exposure. If I owned or operated a bar I would welcome the opportunity to purchase a smoking license.
Put a 1 or 2 cent tax on alcohol purchased or consumed at bars. Allow bars and establishments to have a smoking and non-smoking area but impose a fee for the right to do so.
Make all traffic lights stay red for all directions for 15 seconds. This will reduce accidents and reduce police and fire responses and save injury/hospital cost.
Raise fines for all violations.
Do not spend money on electronic court procedures as it is a waste of money and does not work.
Put a freeze on all new programs until all waste is eliminated and I am sure there is plenty of it.
Get the DNR under control.Cut their manpower,their budget andthen sell a large share of the land they control.This would put land back into income producing hands and generate Iowa income tax revenue and property tax which would help our struggling schools. The sale of this ground would generate billions of dollars for the state very easily,quickly and continue forever.
Let’s join our European neighbors and other major US cities and begin taxing behaviors that are harmful to our planet. Two low-hanging fruit include taxing plastic bags that are given out in supermarkets and stores and plastic water bottles. It will green up the state, raise money and you’ll get a lot fewer complaints than with nearly any other tax you could impose.
9 days and no new comments????
To reduce cost, legislate the consolidation of the sheriffs department and the local police department. What rationale exist, for example, to have two law enforcement agencies in Polk County? The legislation should abolich the boatlaod of police departments in the DesMoines metro area. We only need one organizaton.
Introduce transparency legislation. Have all agencies post monthly (detailed) expenditures on a web site. Operating cost would drop in a heart beat.
Have IPERS publish the recipients of State pensons. It should include the recipients name, amount, nuber of years served and last job title.
My name is Amber Harms, I am 20 years old and have two small children both under the age of 2. I currently live in Ackley Ia with my fiance, and we are currently buying our house from my father after we were turned down for an adequate loan. I don’t know if these will be budget saving ideas for the state but they would help iowans save money. First we recently went to fight a traffic ticket and they are always trying to make you come back on 3 different days in order to get the actual judgement. Why not get it all done in one day? wouldn’t that cut down on court costs and save iowan’s from having to take so much time off work? Also, I’m currently fighting with Black Hills Energy over my gas bill. My meter was currently not registering correctly so they replaced it, but they had to estimate my February gas usage causing my bill to be $100 more than it has been all year. They tell me that they have to go off of last years usage due to what the law allows them to do. Over the last year i have made the improvements on my house so that i could avoid having to pay such high gas bills and it was working for me my bills were like i said $100 less than last year. Maybe you should change the law to where the take the average use of the last 3 months and charge that amount to you or have it where you pay the same as you did the month prior to your meter not working. I live on a fixed income, my fiance and I earn less that $35,000 a year and we pay about $10000 just in daycare i can’t afford to be having gas bills this high just because my meter broke
Stop the DOT from mailing drivers licenses. This does nothing to help security (the mail isn’t exactly secure) and will cost Iowa tax payers millions in postage and extra man hours!
How about charging license/registration for farm equipment that travel on our roads. The farmers do not have their tractors, trailers, combines, dump trucks, plows, ATV’s, and etc. license/registered with the state, but they use the roads and in fact their huge equipment cause quite a lot of damage to our Iowa roads. I think that anything that travels on Iowa roads should have to be licensed/registered with the state of Iowa and be charged a fee accordingly. There are people who have campers that they use in the summer time that have to pay a license/registration fee and have a license plate on the camper, people who have trailers that they pull behind a vehicle for various reasons at periodic times of the year that need to be licensed/registered, if you do lawn care and/or landscaping in the summer you have to license/register the trailer your equipments rides on, so farm equipment that travels down our roads should be charged a fee like all other vehicles and/or equipment that travel on our roads. The farm equipment that travel down our roads are the only things that are not charged a license/registration fee. We really need to review that and make a change for the best interest of our state. Just imagine how much income that could bring to the state of Iowa! All vehicles and/or equipment that travel on Iowa roads should be license/registered and charged an annual fee. The license/registration fee for pickups was increased this past year, now lets take a look at farm vehicles / equipment. They use our Iowa roads also and as stated earlier, they do damage our roads and bridges more than cars and pickups. Charge the farmers for their equipment that travel our roads and use that money to help pay for the repairs of roads and bridges.
Thank you for your review and consideration of this possible way to bring more money to Iowa.
Respectfully,
Suzanne
Start a pool of volunteers armed with digital cameras to patrol handicapped parking and ticket violators. They can upload the ticket and photos showing the car’s license plate and the parking designation. The state can collect the revenue, and people will stop using parking spots not designated for them.
Go to a four day week for all schools and state offices. Close business for the 5th day. This would be more convenient for people if offices were open 7-5:30 so they can do their business before and after work, and will save on expense for all state offices.
For those offices that have to be staffed 7 x 24, still allow the employees an option of 4 ten hour days. This will reduce gas consumption by 20% for everyone, but for those who commute, the gas saved will translate into less gas used.
Offer those offices who can incorporate it a work-from-home alternative. Even if 1-2 days per week this will cut expenses and in years where state employee raises are probably not going to happen, this is one way to reward staff at no cost to government.
There is no way that submitting ideas will help unless there is a way around our bullheaded and arrogant leadership at the organization level, particularly middle management level, and particularly within Regents organizations. Here’s an idea: require the leadership (all levels) of those organizations to actually CONSULT with the experts they have hired before imposing policy, expecially wasteful policy, on the entire staff. And, create an environment among the Regents where input is welcomed instead of an environment of fear. Local leadership is too busy nodding their heads to raise real questions that result in real improvement.
THE DOT MANAGER THAT APPROVED THE COMPLETELY NEW,MEGA-BUCKS SALVAGE AUCTION BUILDING, WITHOUT LEGISLATIVE APPROVAL, SHOULD BE FIRED
Something occurred to me this morning – why do we print up 2 license plates per car?? Wouldn’t a rear plate with the stickers suffice? This would cut the cost of license plates in half.
The State of Iowa could save up to $2.5 million dollars by requesting that Iowa Public Radio dismiss their FCC construction permit applications to build 5 new full power radio stations throughout Iowa. Ask yourself, do you already hear Iowa Public Radio? These new stations must be constructed and operating within 3 years of being awarded an FCC construction permit. The average cost of these stations is around $500,000 a piece and their proposed signals duplicate existing service provided by Iowa Public Radio. Currently, Iowa Public Radio has 29 full power stations, translators, and repeaters making it the largest radio broadcasting entity in Iowa. Iowa Public Radio has tied up all the bandwidth in the non-commercial space blocking development of community radio stations. For the 29 statewide stations Iowa Public Radio operates, they only create jobs in their main studios located in Ames, Cedar Falls, and Iowa City which are already huge sinks for the state money. The majority of programming played by Iowa Public Radio is purchased from out of state syndication. The Iowa Board of Regents governs Iowa Public Radio and last year alone received $2.5 million for their radio stations. The Board of Regents should dismiss these applications for more full power stations and free up Iowa’s airwaves, making it possible for local community groups to build radio stations that do not rely on state funding for their infrastructure and operation. This will help create local jobs, build stronger Iowan culture, and save the state money.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_Public_Radio
Many people are on state aid like Medicaid. They receive monthly checks to support their family. Why do they receive a tax refund? That refund should be put back into the fund that supports them.
Now that same-sex couples may apply for marriage licenses, and since there is no state residency requirement, many out of state same-sex couples will travel to Iowa to get married. I suggest we make the cost of the license higher for out-of-state residents. This would not be any different than the universities charging a higher tuition for out of state students. And if we wanted to increase the revenue even more, remove the ability to get the 3-day waiting period waived so that the couples would now need to stay for a few days and add to the revenues of hotels and restaurants.
state, county and city levels can create more income by not suspending the fines on court cases. sorry if you cant afford the fines, then dont do the crime! DUH!
Well, now the Fed’s have added more tax to cigarette’s. The smoker’s(by choice) of Iowa are being taxed to death. Well, drinker’s of alcohol (by choice) appear to be getting a great deal. They still buy the product with no added taxes, then can get free services for being a drunk, they drive drunk, and kill people and sometimes themselves. I say add a larger tax to the purchase of all alcoholic beverages, and use it to put back into our Schools and maybe roads. Tax at the time of purchase in stores, and tax what bars and restaurants purchase for their business. More money for our schools and maybe less drunks on the roads. And maybe less drinking overall. We have fewer smokers now, because of the taxes.